Head of rail bond



July 6, 1954 F. C. LAVARACK HEAD OF RAIL BOND Filed Aug; 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG! INVENTOR. FREDERICK c. LAVARACK BY Kym/5W TTORNE Y.

F. C. LAVARACK HEAD OF RAIL BOND July 6, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 4. 1951 ATTORNE Patented July 6, 1954 UNITED ?ATENT OFFICE HEAD OF RAIL BOND Frederick C. Lavarack, Montclair, N. J .,-assignor I to 'Railroad' Accessories Corporation, New York, N.:Y., aicorporation of New .York

'ApplicationlAugust 4, 1951, Serial No. 240,339

This invention relates to electrical. conductors particularly electrical conductors known as rail bonds, and especially to the-"form' of rail bonds known as head-of-rail bonds.

A principal object'of this invention is toconstruct a bond of the itypespecified" which will be extremely inexpensive to-"construct; extreme- 1y easy to install, formed of'a minimum of material, exhibiting a minimum "of obstruction to dragging railway equipment parts -and "which may be most securely mechanically and' electrically attached in a'cavityin theside of a rail head by the use of a hammer and punch.

'6 Claims. (Cl. 287-203) Other objects and advantages'will-appear as the description of the particularphysical-embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses and the novel features'will be particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In describing the invention in-deta'il and the particular physical embodiment'selected to illustrate the invention, reference will be' had to the accompanying drawings and'the' several views thereon, in which like characters of reference designate like parts throughout "the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of abutting rail ends with a rail bond of. my construction in place thereon; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View 'ofthe device as shown by Fig. 1 on the plane indicated by the line' IL-II, viewed in the direction of thearrows'at the ends of the line; Fig. 3. is a cross-sectionalview of a fragment of cable and plug forming one terminal of my rail bond; Fig. 4 isa cross-sectional view of the device as shown by Fig. 3 on' the plane indicated by the lineIV-JV, viewed in the direction of the arrows at the ends =01" the line; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional-view similar to thatof Fig. 2-i1lustrating the positioning of one terminal of my rail bond-togetherwith the driving punchv preparatory to driving; "Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional ViGWOf the device as shown by Fig. 5 on the plane'indicated by the line VI-VI,.viewed in the direction of the arrows at the ends'of the line; Fig-7 is-a view similar to Fig.2 but illustrating the positioning of the cable connecting the-rail bond terminals; Fig. 8 is arpartelevational, part sectional view of av driving:punch of my invention; Fig. 9 is a cross sectionalview ofthe device as shown by Fig. 3 onthe plane indicated-by the line IX-IX, viewed in the "direction of the arrows at'the ends of the 'linepFigp10 isa'face View. of one terminal of'my improved-railbond with the cableprotruding therefrom-shown in section and illustrating twocavitiesin the face of the terminal; Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 but illustrating one cavity opening in'the face of the terminal; Fig. 12 illustrates a rail bond terminal with a cable connected thereto positioned off the longitudinal axis and welded thereto; Fig. 13 is a somewhat perspective view'illustrating a rail bond terminal of my invention with a' solid conductor connected-thereto; Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig.3 and illustrating a cavity opening in the face of the terminal; Fig. 15 illustrates a fragment of -a--driving punch formed with a stud to fitinto the cavity of a terminal such as Fig. 14 to be ther'ebypositioned; Fig. 16 is a view similar to Fig. '3 and illustrates a terminal having a protuberance thereon; Fig. 17 is a view similar to Fig. 15, but

illustrates a rounded depression for fitting the protuberance such as is shown in Fig. 16; Fig. 18 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but illustrates a rounded cavity opening in' the face of the terminal;-Fig. 19' is a'view similar to Fig. 15, but illustrates a rounded protuberance to fit into the rounded cavity of a terminal formed as shown in Fig. 18.

Numeral l designates one rail and'numeral 2 designates another rail abutting the rail 1. The rails I and 2 are electrically connected by means of a head of rail bond designated as awhole-byB.

The rail bond B comprises aconductor 3 of metal, generally copper or Phosphor bronze and preferably in the formof strandedcopper. On each end of the cable 3 is a terminal or plug designated as a whole by P.

The plug P is inserted in the cavity formed in the head of the rail-andopening intheside face thereof. "This cavity- 4 is of standard dimensions, that is,'all of the railroads make-"the cavity by drilling and it isalwaysd'rilled the same depth, with a tolerance -allowance,-and it is always drilled with the-samediam'eter drill.

The plugs Pas shown by 5 of Fig. 3 are formed of a malleable metal, preferably soft copper. *The terminal or plug 5 may be cylindrical or tapered as at 6 and 1 so that it simulates the frustrum of a cone. The endface 8 is generallyiformed so as to-substantially fit the bottom of a hole drilled with the ordinary 'dr'illhaving the usual slant on the end thereof and generally has the central portion!) completely truncated.

In order toreceive the conductor 3, acavity it! is made in the-plug 5. This cavity has its longitudinal "center line offset'from'the longitudinal axis'of the plug,'that is; the center ll of the conductor is oifcenter from the center l2 of the plug. This off center arrangement affords a substantial portion or face 13 of the plug against which a driving punch may be positioned for driving the plug firmly into place in the cavity 4 in the rail.

In order to prevent the end of the punch, due to careless holding, from striking against the edge i l of the cavity in the rail, and so injuring the punch, the plug 5 is provided with studs l5 and i5 which project from the face thereof in the same direction in which the cable 3 protrudes from the plug.

Fig. 5 shows the plug in place in the cavity 4 of the rail head after being driven sufficiently to seat the end 8 against the end of the cavity in the rail head. This driving is done by means of a punch designated as a whole by T and shown in Fig. 8. The punch T is preferably formed by polygonal metal, preferably steel, and has a reduced end I6 terminating in a plane face 4? at the end thereof and having cavities l8 and i5) opening in the face H.

In driving the plug 5, as shown in Fig. 5, the plane face I! of the punch T is placed against the face iii of the plug 5 with the studs I5 and i5 positioned in the cavities l3 and 19 of the punch.

The punch. T is also formed with an arcuate outer surface 28 terminating in plane faces at 2| and 22 parallel with the longitudinal axis of the punch and also with an arcuate cavity 253 parallel with the longitudinal axis of the punch and opening at the end face and in the plane parallel to the longitudinal axis.

The construction of the punch is such that when positioned on the plug 5 for driving, as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6, end face I! of the punch will cover a major portion of the end face of the plug and partially surround the cable 3 and be positioned by the studs i5 and [5' so that there will be no danger of the edge of the punch coming in contact with the edge I4 of the cavity in the rail head.

The application of a hammer to the end of the punch T when the punch is in contact with the plug 5 may be severe enough to so compress the metal of the plug that it will all be within the cavity in the rail head after the driving is finished, or it may slightly protrude as shown in Fig. 2. Further, the driving by the punch further consolidates the material of the plug around the cable and within interstices thereof. This action of the punch in driving thus tends to further frictionally hold the conductor within the cavity in the plug although the conductor is initially firmly held within the cavity in the plug by a thorough swaging of the outside surface of the plug so that the material of the plug will somewhat enter interstices of the cable.

Although I prefer to use a cable formed of twisted strands, as the conductor 3 of my rail bond, nevertheless I may use a solid conductor 24 as shown in Fig. 13. This Figure 13 shows a plug similar to Fig. 3 but with only one stud 25 thereon.

I may also afiix a cable 3 to a plug, as 28, as shown in Fig. 12, by welding, as at 21, without entering the cable into a cavity in the plug.

The studs, as l5 and I5 of Fig. 1 and 25 of Fig. 13, are integral as shown, but I do not mean to exclude the use of studs which are formed separately from 5 which are attached thereto by any suitable or appropriate means.

Instead of having studs as l5 and IS on my plug, I may form a plug 28 as shown in Fig. 14

in which two cavities 29 and 30 may be formed opening in the face of the plug as shown in Fig. 10, or one cavity, as 31, may be formed as shown in Fig. 11. In order to properly drive such a plug, I would give another form to the end of my driving punch, that is, the driving punch T, as shown in Fig. 15, would have one or more projections 32 projecting from the plane end face of the punch so as to fit into the cavity, as 29 of a plug, as 28. In case there were two cavities in the, plug 28, as shown in Fig. 10, I would have two projections on the end of the punch T, but if the plug 33, as shown in Fig. 11, had one cavity 3| therein, then I would have only one projection 32 on the end of the driving punch. The driving punch T would otherwise be constructed to correspond with the punch T of Fig. 8.

Fig. 16 shows a plug 34 which has a rounded knob 35 thereon which, as shown, is single, but, of course, I do not mean to exclude two or a plurality thereof. The punch T of Fig. 1? is formed with an end face complementary to the end face of plug 34, that is, the end face of punch T has an arcuate depression therein to fit the knob 35 of plug 3d. Only one arcuate depression is shown in the ends of the driving punch T but, of course, I do not mean to exclude by this showing the use of a plurality of arcuate depressions like 36 in the end of driving punch T Plug 31 has an arcuate depression 33 therein and driving punch T has a knob as to fit the depression 38, that is, the face of the plug is complementary to the face of the driving punch. Again it is to be understood that I do not mean to exclude by my showing of a single depression 38 and a single knob 39 the use of two or a plurality of depressions in the end face of the plug or projections 39 in the end face of the punch.

All of the plugs and the punches by which the plugs are driven are formed with complementary end faces, so that one using a punch to drive a plug will have the punch positioned to cover a major portion of the end face of the plug and confined and placed by the complementary faces so that the end of the punch will not contact the edge of the cavity in which the plug is being fastened so that neither the edge nor the plug will be injured.

This application has subject matter relating to the subject matter of my prior flied application, Serial No. 114,800, filed September 1.949, now Patent No. 2,622,903.

Although I have particularly described several particular physical embodiments of invention explained the construction and principle ther of, nevertheless, I desire to have it understood that the forms selected are merely illustrative, but do not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying my invention,

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rail bond terminal of the type in which a connecting conductor only protrudes from a cavity in a rail to which it is attached, including, in combination, a cable of electrically conducting metal, a plug of malleable metal formed with a longitudinal cavity with its axis displaced from the longitudinal axis of the plug, said cavity hav" ing one opening only and at one end face only of the plug, an end of said cable positioned in said cavity and interstices of the cable having metal of the plug projecting therein and swagingly in contact therewith, a stud projecting from the plug on the end from which the cable protrudes whereby a driving punch formed with a stud receiving cavity in its end is positioned and confined.

2. A rail bond terminal of the type in which a connecting conductor only protrudes from a cavity in a rail to which it .is attached, including, in combination, a cable of electrically conducting metal, a plug of malleable metal formed with a longitudinal cavity with its axisdisplaced from the longitudinal axis of the plug, said cavity having one opening only and at one end face only of the plug, an end of said cable positioned in said cavity and interstices of the cable having metal of the plug projecting therein and swagingly in contact therewith, a pair of studs projecting from the plug on the end from which the cable protrudes whereby a driving punch formed with stud receiving cavities in its end is positioned and confined.

3. A rail bond terminal of the type in which a connecting conductor only protrudes from a cavity in a rail to which it is attached, including, in combination, a cable of electrically con ducting metal, a plug of malleable metal formed with a longitudinal cavity with its axis displaced from the longitudinal axis of the plug, said cavity having one opening only and at one end face only of the plug, an end of said cable positioned in said cavity and interstices of the cable having metal of the plug projecting therein and swagingly in contact therewith, said plug formed with another cavity opening in its face between the cable and the periphery of the plug at the end from which the cable protrudes whereby a driving punch formed with a protuberance is positioned and confined.

4. A rail bond terminal of the type in which a connecting conductor only protrudes from a cavity in a rail to which it is attached, includ ing, in combination, a cable of electrically conducting metal, a plug of malleable metal formed with a longitudinal cavity with its axis displaced from the longitudinal axis of the plug, said cavity having one opening only and at one end face only of the plug, an end of said cable positioned in said cavity and interstices of the cable having metal of the plug projecting therein and swagingly in contact therewith, means wholly attached to the plug at the end of the plug from which the cable protrudes for positioning and confining a driving punch formed with a complementary end.

5. A rail bond terminal of the type in which a connecting conductor only protrudes from a cavity in a rail to which it is attached, including, in combination, a cable of electrically conducting metal, a plug of malleable metal formed with a longitudinal cavity with its axis displaced from the longitudinal axis of the plug, said cavity having one opening only and at one end face only of the plug, an end of said cable positioned in said cavity, a stud projecting from the plug on the end from which the cable protrudes whereby a driving punch formed with a stud receiving cavity in its end is positioned and confined.

6'. A rail bond terminal of the type in which a connecting conductor only protrudes from a cavity in a rail to which it is attached, including, in combination, a cable of electrically conducting metal, a plug of malleable metal formed with a longitudinal cavity with its axis displaced from the longitudinal axis of the plug, said cavity having one opening only and at one end face only of the plug, an end of said cable positioned in said cavity, means wholly attached to the plug at the end of the plug from Which the cable protrucles for positioning and confining a driving punch formed with a complementary end.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 470,820 Garland Mar. 15, 1892 1,578,901 McCaulley Mar. 30, 1926 1,585,327 Booker May 18, 1926 1,827,337 Schwartz Oct. 13, 1931 2,095,885 Moreira et a1. Oct. 12, 1937 2,258,101 Sabol Oct. 7, 1941 2,311,874 Sabol Feb, 23, 1943 2,330,483 Febrey Sept. 28, 1943 2,498,114 Penrod Feb. 21, 1950 2,622,903 Lavarock Dec. 23, 1952 

